LAGOS, Nigeria: Suspected militants have abducted 50 people, mostly women, in northeastern part of Nigeria this week, Western media reported on Thursday citing local officials.
Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters have mainly operated in Borno state of Nigeria in northeast, targeting security forces and civilians.
An official of the Civilian Joint Task Force, which helps the army to combat jihadists, said the latest incident occurred in the remote Gamboru area, that shares a border with Chad and Cameroon.
The official, on the condition of anonymity said the group of at least 50 people from a camp for locally displaced persons, went to collect firewood in the rea, where ISWAP is known to operate.
He said these people were attacked by gunmen and made to walk across bushy paths into neighboring Chad, saying that three of the abducted women managed to escape.
Falmata Bukar, one of the three women who escaped, told media that the gunmen had surrounded them and asked them to follow them to the bush. She later escaped with two others.
Barkindo Saidu, chief of Borno’s emergency agency, said he will be visiting the area to evaluate the situation, however, he declined to comment about the missing people.
The agency is in charge of camps sheltering thousands of Nigerians displaced by the insurgency
